GUEST OPINION: Should we take care of our own first?

Sunday

Jul 27, 2014 at 10:01 PMJul 27, 2014 at 10:03 PM

I have a wide array of friends. Some liberal, some conservative, some really left wing and some really right wing. I have a few that are just plain close-minded and ignorant. Those are the ones you can't reach, so you don't try. But altogether, I love my friends. I listen to all the differing views. There will never be a time when we'll all agree on everything. So we say to one another, “Let's agree to disagree” and we remain friends.

Mark Cook

I have a wide array of friends. Some liberal, some conservative, some really left wing and some really right wing. I have a few that are just plain close-minded and ignorant. Those are the ones you can’t reach, so you don’t try. But altogether, I love my friends. I listen to all the differing views. There will never be a time when we’ll all agree on everything. So we say to one another, “Let’s agree to disagree” and we remain friends.

There’s a lot of highly fueled tensions out there right now on the topic of illegal immigrant children crossing our borders. What should we do? Should we let them stay? Should they be immediately deported? Who is going to pay for them? Why shouldn’t we take care of our homeless veteran’s and citizens first? We don’t want them in our state! They’re ruining our country!

First, I want to tell you that I hear more from my most conservative, Bible carrying friends — my fellow Christians. They’re the loudest and outspoken on the issue. And, it’s not all good. In fact, it’s from these friends that I hear the most un-Godly of statements and opinions. I ask myself, do they follow the same God that I do? Or, do they just follow the “patriot blogs,” “Fox News” or the viral propaganda they see on Facebook and Twitter? Where do they get their strong opinions? It surely can’t be from our most-loving God.

But, I respect their opinions and their right to express them. After all, free speech is one of our most important Constitutional rights. Given that, here is my opinion. If it angers you or offends you in any way, so be it. I hope that you will respect it. It’s only an opinion, because I have no real solution for the problem.

Speaking of the children who are traveling in masses to our country to leave the oppression in theirs; the children who are alone and scared; the children who face uncertainty; the children who are sleeping in cages along the border. Yes, that are illegally entering the U.S. They’re doing so at the direction of family who want to give them a chance for a better life.

I’m not condoning the behavior of these families. What I am saying is these are small children who cannot make such decisions. They are gathered together and sent here on little rafts and boats. They are (innocent little bodies) in a foreign land. They’re afraid for their lives. They miss their parents and families. Most of them don’t even know what’s going on. They’re too young to understand. But most importantly, they’re God’s children, just like you and I. Just like your children who have a home with loving parents and a bedroom and school and friends. They’re God’s children despite any borders. I’m sure when God looks at the Earth He created, that He doesn’t see borders. But, I’m also sure that He sees all of His little children — every single one of them.

Yes, there are concerns: Who is going to pay for these children? Who is going to foot the bill for their education and food and their health care? Those are all valid concerns. We can hardly take care of our own homeless and hungry. We can’t provide quality health insurance for our veterans. I’d like to see all these issues being worked on by Congress and our president. But, there is a humanitarian disaster going on right now. And we can’t just come up with the easy answers, like deport them, shoot them, block our borders, etc. They’re already here. We need leaders to come together to work on the more difficult solutions.

Meanwhile, we need to provide for these little children of God’s. Our younger brothers and sisters. Because that’s who they are. And I don’t think God wants to see His children mistreated or neglected and abused more than they have been already. We need to house them now. If you’re really a Christian and Bible-minded person, how can you turn them away and not advocate for them? WWJD? If you’re a Republican or Democrat and your face is flushing with anger at what you’re reading right now, please consider how lucky you are to have been born or allowed to live in this beautiful country, and how it wasn’t by choice. Think about your children. You know when they’re afraid and when they’re not healthy. Would you want to see another child that way?

Like I said earlier, I don’t have a solution. I only know that my heart is not comfortable when I see them in cages on the border, or when I hear a lot of folks say that “we have to take care of our own first.” For right now, they are our own.

Mark Cook is the director of the Matthew 25:40 Mission at the First Parish Church in Taunton.